Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament of the Bible, the event is said to have occurred three days after Jesus was crucified by the Romans and died in roughly AD 30. The holiday concludes the “Passion of Christ,” a series of events and holidays that begins with Lent — a 40-day period of fasting, prayer and sacrifice — and ends with Holy Week. This includes Holy Thursday (the celebration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his 12 Apostles, also known as “Maundy Thursday”), Good Friday (on which Jesus’ crucifixion is observed) and Easter Sunday. Although a holiday of high religious significance in the Christian faith, many traditions associated with Easter date back to pre-Christian, pagan times.
The resurrection of Jesus, as described in the New Testament of the Bible, is essentially the foundation upon which the Christian religions are built. Hence, Easter is a very significant date on the Christian calendar.
In western Christianity, including Roman Catholicism and Protestant denominations, the period prior to Easter holds special significance. This period of fasting and penitence is called Lent. It begins on Ash Wednesday, and lasts for 40 days (not including Sundays). The Sunday immediately prior to Easter is called Palm Sunday, and it commemorates Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, when followers laid palm leaves across the road to greet him. Many churches begin the Easter observance in the late hours of the day before (Holy Saturday) in a religious service called the Easter Vigil.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Easter rituals start with the Great Lent, which begins on Clean Monday (40 days prior to Easter, not including Sundays). The last week of Great Lent is referred to as Palm Week, and it ends with Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, which ends on Easter.
Did you know?
- The term Easter gets its name from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes the hare and the egg.
- The idea of the Easter bunny giving candies and eggs is said to have originated in Germany during the middle ages.
- Why do chickens lay eggs in different colours? Nothing to do with colour of feathers, but with genes/race of the chicken: recognizable at the ears.
- Why do we eat eggs for Easter and why do we paint them? During Lent, traditionally neither eggs nor meat are eaten, but the chickens still laid eggs: people boiled them and painted them in different colours to know how old they were.
- Why can you get in more trouble when you import a chocolate egg into the US than a rifle? (Überraschungseier or Ü-Eier in German (Kinder Surprise) are banned by law in the US and the import is illegal, you can be fined with up to 2500 Dollars)
We encourage you to improve your interpreting skills with the Speech Repository, where you will find numerous public and restricted speeches on various topics, including Easter (DE-30242).
Happy practice and Happy Easter!
Your Speech Repository Team